Apple to Release Thinner MacBook Pro at WWDC

[Surreal]

The problem, as I see it, with 'just use an adapter' is that whatever port you use for the adapter is 'lost' to the adapter and this loss is more poignant because there are fewer ports in total.

EDIT:as a counter to the "what, you can't afford x cable or adapter, you pro user?' the issue is only partially cost. MY beef with needing an adapter or card is that the card becomes a SERIOUS point of failure. Worrying about drivers for mission critical devices is a truly frustrating thing. For example. my expresscard started ruining hard drives when I upgraded to Lion.

 

[Dr McKay]

I'm gonna answer w/ your answer: That was sarcasm right? Because I'm pretty sure tonnes of people care.
In reality most macbook users don't use an ethernet cable for connection; most people that use a hard connection are on a desktop not a laptop. And, the minority that needs or wants the connection, can always buy the adapter. It's definitely NOT vital for most users, just like a DVD drive is not needed to be carried all over as part of the laptop. Let them become home accessories. Of the current ports the firewire and ethernet are the less used by most.

Nah when I said it was sarcasm, it was just at the guy who said nobody cared about a MacBook Pro Refresh, not about the Ethernet Cable. He said people only wanted iPhone 6.

 

[Peace]

Allow me to elaborate on your reference to the thread earlier:

Person A: No Ethernet
Person B: Use USB to Ethernet Adaptor!
Person C: USB2 is useless!
Person B: How about an Airport Express in bridge mode, then?
Person A: You dont get it B! Apple is screwing the PRO-people! I NEED ethernet for my PRO-work!!
Person B: Well, get the Thunderbolt to gigabit adaptor then !! FCS!
Person D: Yeah RIGHT! And pay 50$ for a thunderbolt cable!
Person B: If you're that much of a PRO, you can afford 50$ for superior tech, right?
Person D: Well, I really hate adaptors! Not an option!
Person E: Where's the FW !!! OMG!! OMFG!!!!! Apple REAAAAALLY dropped the ball on this one. Apple is going down...
Person B: Use the thunderbolt to FW adaptor!
Person E: Yeah RIGHT! And pay 50$ for a thunderbolt cable! NUTS!
Person B: Or perhaps use the Thunderbolt display, which offers many ports?
Person A: I cant believe there's no Ethernet !!

(Loop as many time as possible)

Ha! Saved for posterity .

 

[nuckinfutz]

So, to recap, people are upset because a port that a niche market might want to use is being dropped to make a portable device more portable. A port that, thanks to WiFi, is not longer needed. And, for those who have to have it, can get an adapter for about $25 bucks.


...and the issue is what, again?

The issue is i'm lazy and feel entitled to have ALL the ports "I" deem necessary. Any actions that prevent me getting what "I" want will result in an internet tantrum and proclamations that Apple will be out of business in 2 years precisely because they failed to do what "I" want.

Signed:

Professional Forum Ranter

 

[MovieCutter]

I don't think anyone cares about this. We just want the iPhone 6. Thanks.

The real question is why the hell we have "down vote" buttons in the first place when they don't hide your ridiculous comment from our eyes after you get more than 10 down votes.

 

[bdkennedy1]

I believe the Ethernet Port is gone. The laptop can't get any thinner with it. It's the biggest connector on the machine.

 

[bungiefan89]

Ethernet? Get an iMac or a thunderbolt display, laptops are meant to be portable 'wireless'.

Stop whining and get what fits your needs.

Then buy a generation 1 Macbook air which had barely any ports!

No, this is silly reasoning. Some people need a computer that not only has a lot of input for their devices and mediums of data, but also is more portable than a big heavy iMac or a tower PC which needs to be unplugged every time you move it further than your extension cord can reach.

The Macbook Air is meant to be the wireless computer, the iMac and Mac Pro are meant to be the "stay in one place but do everything" computers, and the Macbook Pro is supposed to be a blend of these two. If the Macbook Pro sways too strongly to either task, then the Macintosh line looses a very crucial middle-ground computer.

Basically, this new Macbook Pro is less of a new Macbook Pro and more of a high-end Macbook Air.

 

[TreyCox]

I will gladly sacrifice Ethernet for all of this. I can always get a USB to Ethernet adapter if I absolutely have to have it. Bring it on Apple!

 

[theSeb]

Allow me to elaborate on your reference to the thread earlier:

Person A: No Ethernet
Person B: Use USB to Ethernet Adaptor!
Person C: USB2 is useless!
Person B: How about an Airport Express in bridge mode, then?
Person A: You dont get it B! Apple is screwing the PRO-people! I NEED ethernet for my PRO-work!!
Person B: Well, get the Thunderbolt to gigabit adaptor then !! FCS!
Person D: Yeah RIGHT! And pay 50$ for a thunderbolt cable!
Person B: If you're that much of a PRO, you can afford 50$ for superior tech, right?
Person D: Well, I really hate adaptors! Not an option!
Person E: Where's the FW !!! OMG!! OMFG!!!!! Apple REAAAAALLY dropped the ball on this one. Apple is going down...
Person B: Use the thunderbolt to FW adaptor!
Person E: Yeah RIGHT! And pay 50$ for a thunderbolt cable! NUTS!
Person B: Or perhaps use the Thunderbolt display, which offers many ports?
Person A: I cant believe there's no Ethernet !!

(Loop as many time as possible)

True. Here is what I don't understand. Why would "professionals" be worried about spending $50 or $500 to make their workflow faster? I am a "professional" in the sense that I use my computer to make money. I am not a creative person so I don't do digital content creation, but, if I need a computer or hardware to help me make money faster, then I don't mind spending it, especially seeing as it just goes through my company and reduces my profits and therefore tax. I just don't get it.

The incessant whining is amusing. I wasn't around in those days, but I know those drums were beating even back in 2004 on these forums. Don't people get tired of it?

 

[wallysb01]

A few millimeters of height on a laptop < Ethernet port.

Exactly. All this talk of "just get an adapter" is missing the point. The point is what are you gaining and what are you giving up?

So, why do I want to save a few millimeters on the laptop if that means I need a new adapter cable in my labtop bag, which will probably cost another $50-$100? It just seems silly. Soon 10GiB is going to be the new standard, and USB3 -> Ethernet will look just as pathetic as USB2 -> Ethernet.

 

[MovieCutter]

Yeah, Ethernet will be a big loss for many people, especially for a "professional" machine that is part of a local network. I'd be fairly surprised if this part of the rumor is actually true. I'd find it more likely that its slightly tapered and still keeps the ethernet.

Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 -> Ethernet adapter anyone? I'd buy one in a heartbeat and be fine with this.

Exactly. All this talk of "just get an adapter" is missing the point. The point is what are you gaining and what are you giving up?

So, why do I want to save a few millimeters on the laptop if that means I need a new adapter cable in my labtop bag, which will probably cost another $50-$100? It just seems silly. Soon 10GiB is going to be the new standard, and USB3 -> Ethernet will look just as pathetic as USB2 -> Ethernet.

As a pro, I carry enough adapters already, a simple USB to Ethernet adapter is gonna add, what....6 oz of weight. And $50-$100 is a pittance to the pro market. I use Ethernet when I'm in my home office, never on the road, so I'd take the thinner design over Ethernet port any day....Firewire on the other hand, they better have a TB->FW adapter...

And you'd rather be stuck with a 1Gb Ethernet port when TB/USB 3 adapters would give you at LEAST 5Gb ethernet options in the future? You're not thinking far enough ahead...

 

[WardC]

I think radio waves are dangerous, and yes, I can hear the high pitched squeal of a WiFi router or a WiFi-connected computer in a room.

I also think the Internet is highly dangerous and highly addictive. That's why I took down all my computers in my house and I only use the one in the office downtown.

And that's why I am not bitching about the ETHERNET PORT!

Edit: But yeah, I'm selling a bunch of my Macs very soon so I can get this new MacBook Pro. Of course.

 

[scottsjack]

Steve Jobs would have never approved of this. He was a professional man and understood that professionals need a functional laptop, not a netbook. What a horrible horrible shame. If any of what is pictured comes to fruition, including the loss of the superdrive Apple is going to be doomed. They are throwing professionals out the window.

Are you kidding? Steve was an iToys and minimal-functional-easy-to-operate guy.

 

[Demonofelru]

Everywhere I look I see people with iPhones. Tons of people are getting iPads. Even though Macs don't have a dominant market share, they still help Apple maintain it's spot as most profitable company on Earth. & you think they'll fold up by 2014?

The MacBook Air can do many things a netbook cannot - run final cut pro x, photoshop (really well) to name a few.

A thinner MacBook Pro, which at worst will be a slightly thicker air with more memory/bigger ssd can hardly be said to have the same functionality as a $450 netbook, let alone a $150 netbook.

Sorry to be nit picky but they aren't the most profitable company on earth. I think you meant they are the largest publicly traded company by market cap. Big oil/gas/energy companies like Chevron make tons of profit, that's not even including state owned corporations like Saudi Aramco that some estimate would have a market cap in the trillions if it were public.

 

[theSeb]

Just what I'd want to do. Spend $1200+ and have to use an adapter for something that even a $250 pc includes as standard.

Then go get that PC. No one is stopping you from making that choice as a consumer.

 

[GREEN4U]

HAHAHA. This is funny.

Keep complaining about the lack of ethernet. Keep calling this redesign a failure. Keep giving me thumbs down.I'm coming from a 2005 15" PowerBook G4, and it's my turn to buy a new MacBook Pro. This fits my needs perfectly and there's nothing you can say to stand between me and Apple. Today is the best mac news day ever.

 

[Peace]

True. Here is what I don't understand. Why would "professionals" be worried about spending $50 or $500 to make their workflow faster? I am a "professional" in the sense that I use my computer to make money. I am not a creative person so I don't do digital content creation, but, if I need a computer or hardware to help me make money faster, then I don't mind spending it, especially seeing as it just goes through my company and reduces my profits and therefore tax. I just don't get it.

The incessant whining is amusing. I wasn't around in those days, but I know those drums were beating even back in 2004 on these forums. Don't people get tired of it?

Stick around a few more years. It never ends.

I get a lot of my comedy routine from this forum .

 

[wallysb01]

True. Here is what I don't understand. Why would "professionals" be worried about spending $50 or $500 to make their workflow faster? I am a "professional" in the sense that I use my computer to make money. I am not a creative person so I don't do digital content creation, but, if I need a computer or hardware to help me make money faster, then I don't mind spending it, especially seeing as it just goes through my company and reduces my profits and therefore tax. I just don't get it.

The incessant whining is amusing. I wasn't around in those days, but I know those drums were beating even back in 2004 on these forums. Don't people get tired of it?

The problem is that this is the kind of feature you should need to pay extra for. Yes, working for real money will pay off $50-$100, but presumably you could also buy something else to further improve your productivity. So do you want to spend $1500 on a computer that doesn't have something as basic as Ethernet? Wouldn't you rather put that $50-100 to better use than that? Its pathetic.

BTW, you do realize you're whining about what you call whiners....

 

[acearchie]

It's not gigabit.

But thunderbolt is and I'm sure they would release an thunderbolt to ethernet adapter.

 

[bungiefan89]

I believe the Ethernet Port is gone. The laptop can't get any thinner with it. It's the biggest connector on the machine.

You might have an argument if the new Macbook Pro were half as thick overall as the older models.

Instead, all they've done is made the thing just a few millimeters shorter than an actual ethernet port. Barring a massive bump in battery life, HDD/SSD space, and/or overall performance, (which let's face it, would more likely be a result of more space being freed up by the lack of a DISC DRIVE rather than the lack of a puny Ethernet port) I don't think the few millimeters of size shaved off justifies the lack of a port as universal and as commonly used as Ethernet.

Hell, Ethernet is probably second only to USB 2.0 in terms of ports on computers these days. You can't just drop it in order to make the computer slightly thinner.

 

[KPOM]

You honestly believe that people won't buy the brand new Apple Macbook Pro with a retina display thinner design and flash memory because it doesn't carry an ethernet port?

Some people think that without a built-in ethernet port, a quad-core MacBook Pro with a Retina Display is just a worthless, overpriced netbook that can't do anything that a $150 PC netbook can't.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

Just what I'd want to do. Spend $1200+ and have to use an adapter for something that even a $250 pc includes as standard.

This is the comparison you want to make?

That $250 PC also will have a DVD drive (tray!).

Look, if it's not for you, then don't buy it.

 

[theSeb]

The problem is that this is the kind of feature you should need to pay extra for. Yes, working for real money will pay off $50-$100, but presumably you could also buy something else to further improve your productivity. So do you want to spend $1500 on a computer that doesn't have something as basic as Ethernet? Wouldn't you rather put that $50-100 to better use than that? Its pathetic.

BTW, you do realize you're whining about what you call whiners....

Ahh, that old chestnut. So then go buy the computer that does what you feel is necessary.

 

[pflau]

I Do Not Remember when was the last time I used the ethernet port on my MacBook pro. I used the dvd drive Once last week I think in 12 months.

I just upgraded the HD to a Seagate hybrid drive that is part SSD. So I believe in SSD.

I would gladly sacrifice the dvd drive for a bigger battery.

So all things considered the new MacBook Pro will be GOOD.

 

[diazj3]

Shouldn't Pro care about generating more revenue/profits?

At this point I don't see ethernet as a product that drives business profits. I see faster CPU/GPU/Storage tech mated with a solid OS as far more vital.

The Pro will be fast and if people need connectivity they purchase the right connectivity package.

Makes sense.

Depends on the line of work the Pro's in. There are more professional uses for a computer, and not everybody works in video processing.